Ben Bonaccio, social media community manager at Kelliher Samets Volk, stands inside the lounge at KSV in Burlington. / JOHN HERRICK, for the Free Press

Social media is now ubiquitous in our personal lives. Even Ben Bonaccio, social media community manager at Kelliher Samets Volk, needs to sign off sometimes.

To disconnect, he puts his phone in his pocket and goes for a bike ride to enjoy some alone time. However, he is not alone. He is being followed on Strava. Strava, a running and cycling GPS tracking app, can be used to time users along segments of trails and roads. Users can then follow others to compare times up popular hills and roads.

Bonaccio then might go for a run down to Burlington’s waterfront. When the sun sets behind the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain, he stops to capture the moment. Using his iPhone, he instantaneously uploads the photograph to Instagram, an app to share photos. Again, he remains connected.

He said that these outdoor recreational activities can now be paired with online social tools, such as Strava and Instagram. Even when he is seemingly disconnected, his online presence follows him.

“I loop a bunch of stuff back around to social media,” Bonaccio said. “That’s where I struggle a bit.”

This does not mean that social media is becoming more distracting. Instead, he said it is becoming an unconscious extension of our social behavior. Bonaccio’s early career is built upon this reality.

As part of his work for with the Burlington-based marketing agency, Bonaccio builds the social media presence of several companies. Currently, this includes strategically Tweeting for several clients.

Bonaccio said that he enjoys using social media to lift the curtain on businesses. This allows consumers to form closer relationships with these companies.

However, online marketing is currently saturating many social platforms, Bonaccio said. It is his job to strategically communicate content in a way that engages clients. He said that businesses cannot just shove marketing down consumers’ throats with social media.

“All of it for me is content driven,” he said. “I am a huge proponent of quality over quantity.”

He said that sometimes it is not about marketing. For one client, Bonaccio was able to maintain an open line of communication during the power outages during Winter Storm Nemo. By using Twitter on their mobile phones, clients could ask the company when the electricity would be back on.

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Bonaccio studied sociology and studio art at the University of Vermont. He said his degree in sociology provided him with a lens to view social media-based interactions.

From a personal perspective, Bonaccio finds that social media allows for an easy entry into a variety of local communities, both online and face-to-face.

“I find it immensely rewarding from a community standpoint,” he said. “There are communities for everything now, of like-minded people. It breaks down, on a local level, previous walls or barriers to a community.”

He said that face-to-face interactions will never waver in importance. Instead, social media sometimes helps to plan activities.

By following Twitter, Bonaccio found a community just down the road from his office in Burlington. On Thursday nights, he frequently attends an indoor cycling event at Maglianero café.

“For every possible interest, there is a community,” he said. “It just fascinates me.”

During college, he worked on the retail floor at Small Dog Electronics in Burlington. He then moved to the marketing department in Waitsfield where he managed the company’s social media content, blog, website and newsletter.

Using Instagram and Twitter, he would later start Tweeting visual content for the company. He said that this combined many of his interests and skill sets.

Currently, Bonaccio does not just do this for his job. As an artist, he is fascinated by these new mediums.

Although Bonaccio considers himself a photographer predating these social tools, he said that they have changed the way he approaches photography. Also, he said that these tools help lesser-known artists gain exposure.

“It’s all governed by the people. It is great because it’s enabling for a photographer who is not established,” he said.

He said that he is willing to try almost any new social tool because every tool has a unique purpose for every sort of business.

“It’s part of my job to just dive in headfirst and try them out,” he said. “It’s important to keep your finger on the pulse.”

In fact, he cannot always remove his figure from the pulse. For Bonaccio, this is one of his professional accomplishments.